Three Athletic things: discussing the Wings’ core, fantasy hockey tidbits and a Bultman Q and A today

Of Red Wings-related note from The Athletic this morning:

1. The Athletic’s Corey Pronman ranked NHL teams by their “23-and-under core,” and Detroit earned a fairly good ranking:

9. Detroit Red Wings

Previous U23 ranking: No. 12
Farm Ranking: No. 13

Core: Dylan Larkin, Filip Zadina, Moritz Seider, Filip Hronek, Michael Rasmussen, Dennis Cholowski, Joe Veleno, Jonatan Berggren, Robert Mastrosimone, Jared McIsaac

Key additions: Moritz Seider, Robert Mastrosimone

Key subtractions/graduations: Anthony Mantha, Tyler Bertuzzi

Detroit fans still have some more pain left in this rebuild, but the Wings are moving in the right direction. They found the hardest piece to get: a true No. 1 center in Larkin. Zadina and Seider are major future pieces, and the season Hronek had was very promising. They likely need a little more in terms of true star talent, but they could come out of this rebuild in a few years with a good team.

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2. The Athletic also posted a massive fantasy hockey preview, asking each and every one of their beat writers to weigh in regarding their respective teams, and Max Bultman discussed the Red Wings:

Who is your team’s sleeper?

Taro Hirose (W) is a somewhat deep sleeper, but he could find himself in a prominent offensive role, potentially as high as the top six and on the second power play. He’s a passer more than a shooter, so don’t expect massive goals upside, but taking a late flier on a playmaker who could see time with the Red Wings’ most electric scorer (Andreas Athanasiou) might pay off. The word of caution is he’s not technically a roster lock at this point, but I’m betting he makes it and ends up as a reliable playmaker in a good situation.

Which youngster/rookie on your team has a chance to excel?

Filip Hronek (D) put up a half point per game in about half a season last year. It’s hard to bank on that over a full season from the 21-year-old, but he should get power-play time and projects to be a top-four staple.

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3. And Bultman will conduct a Q and A session on The Athletic’s website from 2-3 PM EDT today.